Reshaping the Graduate Education of Scientists and Engineers (1995) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
2 THE EMPLOYMENT OF GRADUATE SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS
2 THE EMPLOYMENT OF GRADUATE SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS
Pages 19-46
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 19... ...
Currently, more than 25,000 scientists and engineers earn PhDs from US institutions each year, most of whom enter the US labor ~ National estimates of employment-related characteristics of scientists and engineers used here and throughout the report are from the Survey of Doctorate Recipients (SDR)
|
From page 20... ...
SOURCE: NSF, l991:Table 1, for 1973-1989; NSF, 1994d:Table 1, for 1991. NOTES: In this figure, postdoctoral appointees are included in Me labor force.
|
From page 21... ...
Although increasing numbers of new PhDs have been readily absorbed into the job market over the years, there are clear indications that the most recent new PhDs in some fields are not finding employment as easily as earlier ones, and graduates who have found employment have been more likely to find less-desirable or less-secure positions than earlier graduates. Employment Trends Among recent PhDs, there is a steady trend away from positions in education and basic research and toward applied research and development and more diverse, even nonresearch, employment.
|
From page 22... ...
Oilier employment includes other education Junior colleges, 2-year colleges, technical institutes, and elementary, middle, and secondary schools) ; state and local governments; hospitals and clinics; private foundations and other nonprofit organizations; over employers; and those who did not respond to the e~loyment-sector question.
|
From page 23... ...
Appendix C provides an in-depth analysis of the employment distribution of new and recent science and engineering PhDs by discipline. This is an original analysis based on data from the SDR.
|
From page 24... ...
The over activities surveyed, which accounted for nearly 20% of Me PhD scientists and engineers in 1973 increasing to almost one-~ird in 1991, included mmaganent of non-A&D activities, consulting, professional services, statishcalldata analysis/reporting, and "over" and "no report."
|
From page 25... ...
SOURCE: Special runs of data from Me Survey of Doctorate Recipients on employment sector of US doctoral sciences and engineers 5-8 years after receiving the PhD (in this case, 1969-1972 PhD recipients in 1977 and 1983-1986 PhD recipients in 19911. Psychology PhDs, many of whom go into clinical psychology, are not included in the totals.
|
From page 26... ...
Unemployment rates for PhD scientists and engineers were about 1 ~ in the 1980s surveys and about I.5% in the 199Os. Unemployment rates for the most recent 2 years of science and engineering PhD graduates were about I.5% in the 19SOs, but rose to 2% in 1993, the last year for which data are available—a disquieting increase that bears watching.4 The lager rate compares favorably not only with the overall unemployment rate (above 6% in the early l990s)
|
From page 27... ...
4+ Years College Professionals A All US PhDs Cat New S&E PhDs 1990 1991 1992 1993 FIGURE 2-5 Unemployment rates among different occupational and educational groups in the civilian noninstitutional labor force, 1985-1993. SOURCES: US Bureau of Me Census, 1994:Table 616, for average monthly unemployment of the civilian noninstitutional labor force aged 16 or older.
|
From page 28... ...
When considering the employment trends that graduate scientists and engineers have generally had since World War IT, underutilized recent PhDs might be described as scientists and engineers whose present employment positions have not matched their career expectations. The SDR includes both underemployment and underutilization rates.
|
From page 29... ...
Data collected by the scientific societies are also useful. For example, results of the AMS survey cornea earlier node tnat neyono tne y NO unemployment rate, an additional 5.5 % of recent PhDs were able to obtain only part-time positions, and more than half those taking faculty jobs were in non-tenure-track positions (AMS, 1994a)
|
From page 30... ...
. Physical/Math Life Social/Behavioral Engineering Broad Field [~lAca<~eme :1 Business/ ~ Government Other FIGURE 2-6 Employment sectors of scientists and engineers with US PhDs, by broad field, 1991.
|
From page 31... ...
Furthermore, throughout their careers, graduate scientists and engineers commonly change subjects, kinds of employment, and employment sectors, moving, for example, between educational, industrial, business, and government organizations. The following sections attempt to describe the direction of employment trends by sector.
|
From page 32... ...
. SOURCE: Special runs of data from the Survey of Doctorate Recipients of employment sector of US doctoral scientists and engineers 5-8 years after receiving the PhD (in this case, 19691972 PhD recipients in 1977 and 1983-1986 PhD recipients in 1991)
|
From page 33... ...
. ~ at' Box 2-~: A Higb-School Teacher Bit ~ PI Cou=d caN far ba~s-oD in~i~-based science to become ~ core subject far aU Americans Maxim in ki~erga~n (NRC, 1993 ~~bcomi~.
|
From page 34... ...
In 1989, the federal government hired more than 13,000 new scientists and engineers 1,100 with PhDs, 2,600 with master's degrees, and more than 9,000 with other degrees. By 1993, low turnover, program cuts, and hiring freezes had reduced the number of newly hired scientists and engineers to barely 4,000, or about 71% fewer than in 1989 (~% fewer engineers, because of staff reduction in the Department of Defense, and 50% fewer scientists)
|
From page 35... ...
Psychology PhDs, many of whom go into clinical psychology, are not included in the totals.
|
From page 36... ...
In the business and industry sector, according to the 1989 SDR, of the Il3,000 working in for-profit organizations, half listed research and development as their primary activity. Most—35,000—were in applied research, end another IS,OOO did development work.
|
From page 37... ...
. Psychology PhDs, many of whom go into clinical psychology, are not included in the totals.
|
From page 38... ...
Hence, although industries will continue to perform research and to offer employment, they might not support traditional research to the degree that they have in the past. In small and medium-size companies, new and emerging technologies develop rapidly.
|
From page 39... ...
The following statement typifies the general sentiment: "We may see some specific difficulties in the relationship between academe and the profession it is intended to serve, but the structure itself is sound." Some concerns were also expressed about the level of additional education that is needed to enable recent graduates to become fully participating employees. Consider the response from one major industrial employer who hires several hundred people with graduate science and engineering degrees in laboratories each year from many universities and in many disciplines: Even "the best of the crop" take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years to become good, productive industrial researchers.
|
From page 40... ...
Either the faculty in such institutions will have to carve out areas of research which don't rely on expensive equipment, or they will have to change their expectations of being significant players on the national and international science scene. It may be that there should be some effort devoted to training PhDs for research appropriate to those other institutions, either for enhancing their instructional roles or for providing them with realistic lines of research.
|
From page 41... ...
The consequence of such training is that many of them lack the breadth for work in industry. From what ~ have seen from the job offers received by our engineering students, they are successful with relatively less effort if their research topic and/or their assistantship experience is closely related to the prospective job description.
|
From page 42... ...
~ say no. A highly trained scientist or engineer cannot be very effective if she/he has no knowledge at all of how a company is organized and why, lacks understanding about the principal staff and operating functions, is ignorant of the rudiments of accounting and finance, is unaware of productliability issues that directly affect product development, etc., etc.
|
From page 43... ...
The flexibility required by the latter point is important to us because we cannot hire new talent every time we wish to enter new research fields. We are also looking for excellent communication and interpersonal skills, so that with proper training they can develop into potential management candidates both in the research organization and in management positions in our operations.
|
From page 44... ...
Universities and their professors need to revise the science and engineering graduate curriculum so that students are educated and prepared for the opportunities available. For example, although employers prefer to hire people who have a strong background in basic Box 2-5: Nontraditional Employment Sectors Positions and
|
From page 45... ...
Others have emphasized the extent to which strong scientific training- with its emphasis on analytical problem-solving, experimental strategy, and creativity—prepares a person for productive roles in government, business, and industry beyond roles that require the specific scientific or technical expertise acquired in the education process. It is impossible to predict whether the rapid growth of traditional positions will resume during the 1990s, as was widely predicted in the late 1980s (Atkinson, 1990; Bowen and Sosa, 1989; NSF, 1989~.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.